bigguy928

Hey guys! I was sleeved on Feb 25th and so far so good! I'm down 50lbs... I couldn't believe it when I stepped on the scale. I still get cramped up at times and the triggers are so real especially since we get caterers come into the office I work at. How's everyone doing?? Post pics too if you'd like!

Hey guys! I'm about two weeks until my sleeve and I've on recently started telling close people. Weight has always been such a sensitive subject for me I never want to discuss it with anyone. I'm very outgoing and boisterous but I completely clam up when weight is brought up. I know I need to start telling people in my life because I've been big my entire life (98lbs in kindergarten) so people have always known me to be this size. Once I start dropping weight significantly I'm sure people will know that there was some surgical intervention. What are your experiences and thoughts with sharing your decision with people?

Hello all! Before you come at me sideways with your remarks realize this is simply what happened and I do realize that I should have done much differently. Hindsight is simply what it is... Hindsight. So save it! My surgery was on Thursday the 25th of February. It was actually moved from the 18th of February because I was sick and told my doctor I wasn't able to follow the diet accordingly. He moved it back a week. Still even when I felt better I didn't follow it like I should. I was to be on shakes 3 times a day for two weeks prior to my surgery. I only got a few shakes I'm per week and for the rest of my meals I was not only eating what I shouldn't have been but I was eating worse than how I ever eaten before. Of course I didn't want to tell my doctor the truth because I wanted to just get it done as I figured it would be much easier to follow the post op diet. Man I had wished that I got my surgery pushed back. I ended up with a ton of internal bleeding. I vomited blood shortly after my surgery while I was in recovery. My vitals were out of control and they had to call rapid response. Turns out I lost a litre of blood and I had to go back under surgery again to fix my issue. While the surgeon didn't say that not following the diet caused such complications, I know that if I had choice again I wouldn't even think about going off the preop diet. The pain and scare from internal bleeding was so unbearable I wouldn't wish it on anyone and for what just a little extra junk food? All is ok with me now. I had to stay in the hospital a couple of days longer than normal but I'm out and following my diet as I should be. So if you're reading this and you're preop and you're tempted to go off your diet... Please don't make the same mistake I did. My medical team was amazing but I put myself at such great risk just to get some junk food in. Please share any thoughts or questions!

Is it really so different? My friend didn't have the sleeve he had the bypass. He's gay and so am I. His weight loss was a great success and he lost a ton. He said ever since his surgery his social relationships have been vastly different. He feels that it's at a point where he can't tell who is real and who is fake in his relations with people whereas before when he was bigger he felt that his relationships with people were more genuine. Can I expect this? Are people who weren't interested at all in you before suddenly become interested? I'm already a social butterfly and have a wide variety of friends. I'm not sure what to anticipate.

So I know excess skin is a worry for everyone but being 20-somethings (especially the single 20-somethings such as myself) I know that it may be on our minds more than other demographics. What has your experience with excess skin been? Have you been able to find a good way to keep it at bay? What can I expect with it?

Hey guys! I got my sleeve on Feb 25th.... What the heck can I do for Easter!? I'm gonna be surrounded by triggers and my mom is already concerned about having to change things and I don't want my family to have to suffer because I can't partake in delicious ham, corn, mashed potatoes ugh I can't even go on! Any tips??

This is such a great response! Thank you for the amazing tips. I have lots of hope now especially since I've been so frustrated lately (my stomach doesnt agree with much) but I am slowly starting to get used to my sleeve and the restrictions. I haven't had much of a problem with the drinking and eating at the same time. If I take small sips I seem to be fine but I never need much especially since I don't eat much. Again thanks for your response much appreciated Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

Hahaha I hate it! When did you get your sleeve? And what are you doing for protein?

Hey all! Just wanted to update you on my progress. I had my one week post op appointment yesterday and everything was perfect. I lost close to 30lbs and I'm doing so well I was cleared to go back to work and drive already. I did have a rough start to this all but in only a week I've come out of it and well on top of it. I will keep posting updates but I am so glad to hear that many people seeing this have been motivated to stick to their diets. Do so! Minimize any possible thing that could even slightly complicate your surgery/healing process. I've stuck with my new diet strictly (with the help of my wonderful mother making sure I get enough liquids in every single waking hour) and my results have so far been spectacular. I hope the same for everyone here as well. Thanks for all the support guys and always know you have mine as well

Hi everybody! I'm one week post op and guess what? I can already feel my Adam's apple, cross my legs without physically lifting them with the help of my hand AND wrap my fingers on one hand around my wrist of the other. It's absolutely overwhelming and I know it's mostly Water weight but it just feels so incredible. Small Victories right? Share yours!

Oh wow I didn't realize how many responses to this I received! When I wrote it I was distraught and beyond frustrated. Thank you all for your remarks and support! I was pretty much in my own world not just from the surgery but from being so exhausted and not feeling prepared. I am now day 5 post op and I feel pretty good. This morning was the first time I rated my pain level at 0 even without my pain medication so everything seems to have normalled out. While the general consensus seems go be that my internal bleeding was not caused because I completely failed my preop diet (and by completely failed I mean I had fast food multiple times a day up until the day before surgery) I still urge EVERYONE to stick to whatever it is your surgeon recommends. Before surgery I understand how those are just simple words but Lord I wish I had just gone back in time and kicked my preop selfs ass into listening to them. As a side note if you're struggling with anxiety and are having last minute ups and downs with the surgery, push it off until you're ready. I just wanted it to be done and over but I was clearly not ready. And I say this because I suffer from anxiety and depression my surgeon believes that the heightened anxiety increased my blood pressure and heart rate to the point where I threw up blood and then began the internal bleeding. So I don't say push it off until you're mentally ready just because your motivation may be up in the air. But if you suffer from side effects of anxiety and depression, major surgery will only worsen those things if you don't have them properly controlled beforehand.

Hello! Just joined. My sleeve date is 2/18. Anyone else have their date coming up? Do you feel ready?

Hello! I'm a 26 year old gay male and my sleeve date is February 19th. I'm a mix of emotions but coming here it's good to know there are so many supportive people and knowing that I certainly am not alone in my endeavors. I'm very open to meeting new people and having mentors/broadening my support system. Nice to meet you guys!

That's awful I'm sorry but it's one thing for a pcp to say such things (they aren't known for their awesome table manners) but it's completely unethical for something like that to come from a therapist. She should not be practicing. Have you had wls yet? Again I love everyone's responses on this. I came back to work today after a month long hiatus and have to leave again for my surgery next week so pretty much everyone at the office already knows. I tell the ones I'm not so close to that I'm having surgery on my stomach and if they ask for more I just say I have issues with my stomach. But everyone has been entirely supportive at least to my face. My parents are having an issue understanding it. I didn't even tell them until I completed all my pre surgical appointments. I'm glad I waited because their words get to me easily and had I told them a while back I would have had a lot more time to second guess and reconsider.

Hello! My surgery is scheduled for February 18th and I began my preop diet on Friday. The diet of course consists of shakes and for dinner optional 2oz lean meat and a cup and a half of veggies OR a shake. I've noticed that I've been experiencing some pretty bad nausea. I felt sick for a while yesterday but I didn't vomit. I did however have bowel issues. Today when I woke up the nausea was so terrible I came extremely close to throwing up multiple times but I was able to keep it down. But the nausea lasted a good while. I have also stopped smoking weed at the same time I've started the preop diet. I was a heavy smoker (again weed NOT cigarettes) I would say everyday at least once or twice a day. I really have not been straying from the diet. What's up with the nausea? I'm feeling it now, dulled but it's still there. So what's up with this? Nothing about nausea coming with the pre op diet was mentioned at any of my meetings with the doctors. How can I help regulate this?

See that's what I'm saying. If you place such hard restrictions on your pre op diet and don't leave any room for maybe a treat or two, then not succumbing to temptation post op will be much harder in my opinion. As they told us in the pre surgical instructions class last week, what they tell us to do are mere suggestions because they will not be acting as the food police. But they also said sometimes a child needs to put his hand on top of a hotstove after being told not to touch it in order for the child to realize why it's such a bad idea. I do intend on following the diet from now until my surgery. But I also won't beat myself up for any slip ups. In terms of my nausea now I feel ok. Finished my lunch shake with a little unsweetened applesauce and I feel alright. The forums definitely help a lot too I should have joined long ago!

Oh man butterfingers sound so good right now you have no idea. As far as commitment I'm very good when I basically have no choice but to follow through with something. Right now I'm kind of in the phase where well I haven't had the surgery yet so I can still over eat/eat whatever I want with no fatal consequences. I'm not doing so out of choice and whatever willpower I have. But I still have in the back of my mind that it's really nbd if I have a slip up because I can still physically handle it. When I was an exchange student in Costa Rica I had no choice but to adapt to the culture and language. And I did so successfully. There just was no going back. I believe that this will be easier for me after the surgery because logically I know that eating the wrong thing or over eating can potentially kill me and I won't take those risks. But right now I don't feel that sense of urgency. I'm ready to leave this life behind but at the same time there are aspects of it that I'm not. And those aspects are what I'm struggling with now. Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

Agreed. Thank you for being my voice of reason. I will try my best to resist temptation but let's be real I'm not getting weight loss surgery because I'm an expert at controlling impulsesbut you are absolutely right I want the best outcome for this Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

Thanks guys I feel a lot better knowing that it's more than likely because my body is detoxing. I feel the urge to smoke again but I don't feel like binge eating or straying from my preop diet. How harmful would it be to maybe smoke a little and try and decrease the amount over time instead of trying to stop cold turkey? Because it seems like making two major changes at once seems a bit much.

I like this a lot! I really am sick of the fat shaming especially that it's still prominent in the medical field. My primary care physician went off on me about my mental health diagnoses, said it's all in my head and that once I start losing weight I'll be much happier. I quote her "maybe the surgery is a gift from God for you not to be fat anymore." ha if that's my pcps reaction to my situation I don't even care to know some of my peers'. These responses are great thanks guys! Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

I think it's because we think of weight in such negative terms that we assume people feel the same. But really I've come to realize that people who have never had a weight issue before do not know the first thing about bariatrics or even something as simple as calorie counting for that matter. If they hear that you've had a surgery to help you lose weight that's all it is to them really. I don't think they regard it in such negative terms like we do so much as they see that we're taking a positive step towards a healthier us. It's just that simple to them where it is more complex to us. So I'm sure those people who are supportive to your face are supportive behind your back. Really if anyone thinks that this is the easy way out then they don't know the first thing about the surgery and have no idea what they're talking about. Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

I told my parents and husband. My parents were completely against it but my dad has since told me that although he doesn't agree with it he's proud of me. I originally heard about the surgery and Mexico option from a lady at work. We had even discussed going together. She went in September but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Needed more time to research and really wanted to give regular diet and exercise one last sincere try. Since September she has done amazing and is down 85. In November I told her I was planning to go and she was so unsupportive and told me it would be the biggest mistake of my life... Although I'm not quite a month out, so far I have no regrets. Needless to say I lied and told her I decided against it. Wait I'm not sure I understand... The friend who told you about the surgery and lost 85lbs is the same friend who was unsupportive of your decision? How so? Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

Ahh good luck Miranda!! Less than a week! I hope everything turns out well. I'm sure you'll be fine. All the hard work is worth it in the end Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

Aw I wish you the very best with it. I do hope you are received positively. You've put in such hard work to get to where you are and should be proud of it through and through! Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

Awesome I hope it goes well for you but don't beat yourself up if you have any slip ups!